Working out, Time Management and Music

I had a double awesome Easter. This entailed a double Easter egg hunt, Double dinner, and of course quintuple chocolate:). Although great, these two Easters lead me to my next thought and action,(well trying to action).

With all this incredibly rich food, one must think about health, and or fighting to keep in shape. I am finding, like all things in life, one must make a choice in this matter. Do you catch a nap with your child, like everyone says you should? Or do you work out? Ultimately, working out gives you more energy, but it's the start up and commitment that is always the hardest. Then of course, because parental thinking comes into play the next thought is "Hey, if I am working out, I can multi-task as well". Christ! this never ending burden of "I need to do more than one thing while my child is sleeping" is truly insane............ but also necessary.  

Because C is no longer home during the day, P cannot get breast milk all the time. C was truly valiant in the effort of pumping and saving, pumping and saving. What we believed was months worth saved milk, ended up being gone in two weeks. So onto the formula. We researched a lot of brands. We found an organic, healthy and Canadian finally. we settled on "My Organic Baby" (http://www.myorganicbaby.ca/products.php?id=formula). Full of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and made with milk from cows that are given organic feed and not given any antibiotics or growth hormones.... We felt it's as good as we can get in terms of formula. Man, I really do sound like an ad for the stuff..... I digress. 

Part of the prep is to boil water (It's a powder)  then let it cool, pour the water in the bottle and then formula. So while I am boiling the water (the timer is a lifesaver, BELIEVE ME!) I can also clean the bottle(s) from the night feeding before and put them in the sterilizer. While this happening, I can do some quick push-ups, sit ups, tricep crunches, or perhaps yoga style back strengthening. This is day by day and not routine yet. Another thing that gives me energy is music.

Side-note:(Yes, we are still doing night feeds even though P doesn't need them. It works for us right now and we will stop when we are ready). 

Music for me is essential. I play an assortment for P. Classical and Jazz are a given. We have great friends of ours who got us the Rockabye baby covers of Metallica and Queen (http://www.rockabyebabymusic.com/?nav2=false). It sounds funny but listening to "Welcome Home"(Sanitarium) is inspiring. "ONE" is peaceful. Heavy Metal played on xylophones is a totally different experience. It F^%&%^"N Rocks!!! This is also a great way to introduce P to the greats. Some say that listening to classical can develop your child's mind more succinctly, or helps with speech. I truly do not know the answer yet. Although I think no harm is being done by exposing them to all music regardless of culture or time era. (Tony Allen and his Afro-beat is cool: http://www.myspace.com/tonyallenafrobeat). Well that's all for now

Signing Off Now

In Peace 

I just lost my last post

I just lost the my current Easter post because I was not signed in properly. ARGGGG!!! I will do my next post tonight or tomorrow. More of Easter to come....

Feeding Time!

Feeding your child is a whole new adventure all on it's own. My Wife and I have made the choice to go as natural as possible when it comes to feeding P. The only processed food we use is the Nestle multigrain or oatmeal cereal. We use the rule of trying a new food for three days. We then see if there is an allergic reaction at all. To my wife's brilliance, we only try the new food starting in the morning. So if there is a reaction we are not dealing with it late a night.   

When placing P in her chair, she is either excited or could careless. Once strapped in though, it is literally a song and dance routine while trying to prepare her food.  P needs to be engaged a lot or she is quite vocal or sometimes just a down right "fuss-bucket".  Honestly, It has been pretty cool coming up with spontaneous songs or games to keep her occupied. I will admit you cross the line into nonsense while entertaining your child, but who gives a shit. Do you want to see your child laugh or cry? 

Once the food is ready, and the bib is on, it's go time! Usually she is an active or very eager eater. 

Then there are the times when gets the "thousand yard stare".  This is a term given to soldiers who have killed and are forever changed by it. Now to my knowledge P has not done anything of the sort quite yet, but It's as if she is looking right through me, totally on another realm. Other moments to contend with is while bringing the spoon to her mouth she takes a bite and then proceeds to bite down on the front tray; smearing the food that's in her mouth left to right! This can last all feeding, I am torn between laughing, and trying to get the food to stay in her mouth. I win some and lose some.

Feeding time also means I have dinner ready for C. when she comes home. (C is my wife, I don't want to use wife every time while speaking about her.)  Taking on the stay at home dad role also means making sure you take care of the person coming home from work.  Now I admit, the meals I prepare are already pre-made that C has slaved over usually two weekends before hand. But they are ready when she steps in the door.  

When it comes to eating for myself, It's a struggle. P. gets about 20 mins. a day of T.V. while I prepare my own lunch. T.V. is something we try not to expose her to, but its a necessary evil. This comment is not ment to be preachy. People do what they gotta do to get by. This is just our belief. Also to be fair, P usually doesn't like T.V. after 10 mins. anyway. So are we blessed or cursed....? On to dinner now... Good Evening or Morning to all. 

Signing off for now. IN PEACE

Second Week- Baby Sign Language,Teething, and Naps

This is my first blog about being a stay at home dad. I will try to make daily updates, but i know this will not be possible all the time. I feel lucky to be part of the growing movement of fathers who are actively wanting stay at home with their children. It is a cultural and societal shift that I believe is positive.

( I will  refer to my daughter as P. in my blog posts)

 It's my second week as a stay at home father.  I start the day with a cup coffee, Metro Morning( I live in Toronto, Canada, love the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/audio/) and I sit P in her Bumbo. Then we start with the flash cards of baby sign language.  There is the belief that this helps children with speech and expressing themselves at an early age.  At first I was sceptical; but I have really witnessed progress.  (http://www.babysignlanguage.com/chart). It is ultimately ASL, so I check out this site for reference and new signs(http://www.lifeprint.com). It's actually awesome, because we are both learning another language at the same time. Well actually three for her; English, ASL, and French. Although French is left up to her mother.

Right now P  is sitting supported by the semi-circular breast feeding pillow, contemplating the meaning of some strange wooden objects. She's crying to the gods for their meaning. Grabbing, throwing, chewing and at the same time partially trying to pronounce words that only make sense to her. Like every parent does, you wonder what it is their child is thinking as they make noise, stare and look around. You hope it is something profound. Yet inevitably it's probably something powerful like" when is my next poop going to be coming" Hey, you never know.

P is in her 7th month and is getting her first baby teeth. Jesus I feel bad for her. P was born with a cleft lip and has under gone surgery. She is soooo brave. She continues to amaze me while she under goes her daily upper lip massage. This is done to ensure the scaring from the surgery is minimized. Let's face it,  when she is a 16 yr. old young women, and living in a society that objectifies women, having a scar on her face is going to difficult. It's hard enough being 16 and just trying to figure out life without one more obstacle.  I realize these are worries for another time. I will touch on this subject more in later posts. Back to  teething.  My wife and I try not to use the "sacred" Tempra as some would refer to it. When P is teething we try a meshed-ringed feeding device filled with ice or frozen fruit. Somedays it works, others we have to submit.

I am finding out very quickly that day to day is the only way to approach this amazing experience of raising my daughter. It is THE MOST IMPORTANT job or responsibility I could ever have. I am shaping and or harnessing my child's mind everyday.

I have unrealistic expectations of myself and of her already. The competitive parent comes into play. You want your child to be ahead of the pack in terms development. To speak early, to crawl or walk, to say dada or mama, to count to ten or be able to carry a conversation before any other child. But you soon realize your little bundle of joy grows in their own way and in their own time. That's O.K.! My wife reminds me of this from time to time and I listen. Signing off for now.

IN PEACE